A spokesman for the international coalition battling the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) on Wednesday (February 8th) said the group's Syrian stronghold of al-Raqa will soon be isolated, AFP reported.

"What we would expect is that within the next few weeks the city will be nearly completely isolated," Col. John Dorrian said.

Fierce fighting took place Wednesday just 20 kilometres from al-Raqa as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an Arab-Kurd opposition alliance, attacked ISIL positions in the neighbouring village of Maayzila.

The village also came under repeated attack by at least three coalition warplanes, and heavy smoke could be seen billowing from there.

"There has been heavy fighting since the morning. Many ISIL fighters are holed up inside Maayzila," local SDF commander Ararat Kojer said.

Twelve villages have fallen to the SDF in the latest phase of the offensive, which was launched on November 6th.

"Progress is slow because ISIL are putting up a ferocious resistance and placed mines around the approaches to many villages," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdel Rahman.